Waitlist and Sign-up Lottery: How to Fairly Divide Spots
Adam · 
When a group has a fixed schedule and good attendance, sooner or later a problem shows up: more people are interested than there are court spots. The solution a group picks — sign-up order, a waitlist, or a lottery — directly affects whether players feel the system is fair or arbitrary.
Sign-up order: simple, but rewards reflexes
"First come, first served" is easy to understand and implement — but in practice it rewards whoever happened to have their phone in hand when sign-ups opened, not whoever actually wants to play the most. It forces you to watch your phone at exactly the moment sign-ups open — whoever happened to be offline loses out, no matter how much they want to play. With a stable group of players, this leads to a situation where the same 8-10 people always make it in, and the rest practically never get to play.
Waitlist: a complement, not a solution on its own
A waitlist doesn't decide who gets a spot at the start — but it decides what happens when someone drops out. Without an automatic waitlist, a freed-up spot has to be announced manually in chat, and you have to hope someone reacts in time. In Courtino the waitlist is automatic: the first person in line gets the spot right away, without the admin having to keep watch.
Lottery: fair when the surplus of interested players is regular
A sign-up lottery reverses the "first come" logic — everyone who signed up within the sign-up window (e.g. up to 24h before the session) has the same chance at a spot, whether they did it right away or right before sign-ups closed. Only those not drawn end up on the waitlist. This solution makes sense where the surplus of interested players is regular, not a one-off — otherwise it’s an unnecessary complication. It's also a good choice for groups that don't want to reward constantly sitting on your phone — after all, right when sign-ups open someone may be offline because they're playing on the court, and shouldn't lose their chance to take part because of it. In Courtino the lottery mode is switched on per session or on a recurring basis for the whole group — the sign-up window, the draw and the waitlist for those not drawn all work automatically.
“The automation of the whole player-management process – signing up and out, handling the waitlist and finding a substitute – also saves a huge amount of time. It used to mean keeping an eye on changes in the chat and the spreadsheet by hand; now most of it happens automatically, without extra effort from the organiser.” — Renata, admin of a group of about 40 players that has been using Courtino for over 2 months
See how this works together in practice: sign-ups and the waitlist in Courtino. Create a group and choose the sign-up mode that fits your attendance — 14 days free, no card required.
Frequently asked questions
Sign-up order or a lottery — which is fairer?
It depends on what the group wants to reward. Sign-up order rewards reflexes and whoever happened to be by their phone at the right moment. A lottery rewards the simple desire to play — everyone who signed up within the window has an equal chance, whether they clicked first or last.
Does a lottery make sense for a small group?
Not really — a lottery solves a problem that only shows up with a regular surplus of interested players. For a group where there's usually enough spots for everyone, plain sign-up order is simpler and sufficient.
What happens to people who didn't get drawn in the lottery?
They go on the waitlist — if someone who was drawn drops out, the first person on the list automatically gets their spot.
